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Birth Injury Compensation Claims

Bringing a new life into the world is an incredibly special experience. Despite the continuous improvement in medical and midwifery standards, instances of life-altering medical negligence unfortunately still occur. When errors are made by your medical team, the repercussions can be traumatic, impacting not only the future of your child but also your emotional well-being and financial stability.

Medical negligence is a serious matter that can have long-lasting consequences for both the mother and the baby, and it's something that should never be overlooked. In cases where preventable failures in life-changing medical care occur, you have the right to seek compensation to address the financial strain of medical bills, care, and the emotional trauma experienced.

While compensation can't undo the effects of medical negligence, it serves as a means to move forward with confidence and strength. It provides a sense of justice and the financial support you rightfully deserve to navigate through the challenges ahead.

If you find yourself facing such a situation, know that there are dedicated birth injury claims solicitors, like our team at Lawhive, ready to assist you in birth injury claims and help you receive the compensation you need and deserve.

In this guide, we'll answer common questions about birth injury claims including:

• The types of medical negligence that can cause birth injuries
• The birth injuries that can happen to babies
• When a compensation claim can be made
• When claims can be made against the NHS
• If there a time limit for claiming compensation
• How to make a claim
• How much compensation you could get
• How long a claim will take to process

What is a birth injury claim?

If you or your baby undergoes traumatic injury due to a mistake that wasn't your fault, you may be eligible to make a birth injury claim for compensation. This compensation aims to recognise the impact of the trauma and provide assistance with medical expenses and emotional distress.

Around 30,000 women suffer from birth trauma every year according to the Birth Trauma Association. While the majority of these cases involve common and manageable issues like swelling and bruising, which typically heal over 1-2 weeks, there are more serious instances where medical negligence and improper care result in complications and disorders.

What medical negligence can cause birth injuries?

Medical negligence that leads to birth injuries is a serious matter. Common factors that might contribute to birth injuries due to medical negligence include:

• If a healthcare professional fails to identify or misdiagnoses a medical condition during pregnancy that leads to complications during birth;
• Inadequate monitoring or mismanagement during labour, such as failing to recognise signs of distress or not taking timely action;
• Medication errors during pregnancy or labour;
• Poor communication among healthcare professionals or between the medical team and the parents which leads to misunderstandings and errors in treatments;
• If a Caesarean section or any other surgical procedure during childbirth is not performed with due care.

If you believe medical negligence caused a birth injury, either to you or your baby, it's important to speak to a birth injury solicitor who can assess the specific details of your case and provide personalised advice.

What types of birth injuries can happen to mothers?

This list contains some of the most common birth injuries:

• Bladder and bowel injuries caused by caesarean section (C-section) errors
• C-section trauma
• Cord prolapses
• Cord compression
• Uterine rupture
• Hypoxia 
• Haemorrhage 
• Shock
• Delivery delay
• Anaesthetic errors
• Ruptured placenta, placenta abruption
• Stillbirth 
• Shoulder dystocia
• Perineal tears and internal damage

What types of birth injuries can happen to babies?

There are several common birth injuries:

• Swelling or bruising of the scalp and head
• Brain injuries
• Cranial bone bleeding
• Blood vessel breakage in the eye
• Facial nerve injuries caused by birthing pressure
• Injury to nerves which impact the arms and hands 
• Fracture of the clavicle or collarbone

Birth injuries can lead to lifelong care needs and medical conditions, including:

• Cerebral palsy
• Erb’s palsy
• Meconium aspiration syndrome
• Jaundice
• Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC)
• Group B strep infection
• Dystonia
• Meningitis
• Epilepsy 

When can you make a birth injury claim? 

You can make a birth injury claim if you and or your baby received care below the level of care that is the obligation of medical professionals. Negligence or a poor level of care can take place before, during or after the birth of your child.

You’ll need to provide evidence that a medical professional or team has failed in their duty of care.

Can you make a birth injury claim against the NHS?

Yes, you can claim against the NHS if you believe you have the evidence to prove negligence. This is something our birth injury solicitors can help you with. 

If the NHS or private healthcare provider accepts the claim, they will usually pay the compensation out of their insurance.

Private healthcare providers will pay compensation out of their public liability insurance; the NHS settle claims through the NHS Resolution, a Government fund set aside to mitigate NHS errors. Payments are made by individual trusts, not the NHS itself ─ so you don’t need to worry that making a claim will have a knock-on result on the quality of care the NHS can provide.

What is the NHS Early Notification Scheme?

This is a scheme to investigate NHS clinical negligence when claims for birth injury compensation claims are laid at the door of the NHS.

The NHS Early Notification Scheme (ENS): “Proactively investigates specific brain injuries at birth for the purposes of determining if negligence has caused the harm”.

If they establish that your child’s brain injury was caused by negligence you may be able to claim compensation.

When maternity incidents reach a certain clinical definition the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) members must inform the ENS.

We can also work with them to report a case of negligence. Reporting a claim of compensation to the ENS helps to speed up the process of receiving compensation for successful claims.

When we liaise with the ENS we will need to send them evidence, we’ll then write a letter of claim. The NHS has a four-month deadline in which to respond to the letter.

The remit of the ENS includes:

• Investigating claims for compensation and actively taking steps to reduce legal costs and improve the experience of families
• Preserving evidence if a family needs to bring a claim at a later date
• Ensuring the process of making a claim does not impact openness

What is the time limit for making a birth injury claim?

You can bring a claim for medical negligence birth injuries within three years of the date of delivery, or three years from the date a birth injury was linked to negligent care.

If you are claiming on behalf of your child the time limit begins from the day they turn 18 and ends the day they turn 21.

When your child has no mental capacity to bring a claim themselves, there is no claim time limit.

In the unspeakable position where your child passed away in stillbirth or neonatal death, you have three years from the day of death to begin a claim.

How to make a birth injury compensation claim

Your first step is to contact one of our expert birth injury solicitors who will give you a free case assessment to help you determine if you can make a claim, how long it will take, what you could receive and what to expect from every step of the process. 

We know it’s an emotional upheaval to pursue compensation for such a traumatic event. Let us assure you that our legal experts are ready to talk when you feel able, are compassionate and have helped people in your shoes get the compensation they deserve, which may go some way to giving you some peace of mind.

How much does it cost to make a birth injury claim?

It’s hard to estimate the cost of your case without knowing the complexity of your case and the birth injury you have encountered.

The cost will depend on the condition you or your baby has developed and the expertise of the solicitor you choose to instruct. 

As a form of personal injury, many solicitors will take on your case on a no win, no free basis ‒ but you must confirm this with them in your initial case assessment.

The more information and evidence you’re able to provide a solicitor the more quickly they’ll be able to let you know how much your claim could cost you.

How much can I claim for childbirth injury caused by negligence?

The level of compensation you could claim depends on the severity of the injury and the impacts it has on your family and child’s life. 

When determining how much to claim for your solicitor will consider all the impacts the injury has had on your life: emotional and financial, including the cost of medical bills, care, lost income, travel arrangements for medical appointments, education needs and home modifications to name several.

How do you prove a birth injury claim?

A test known as the ‘Bolam test’ is used to determine whether a medical professional ‘acted in a way that a responsible body of medical professionals in the same field would regard as acceptable’. 

If you can prove through evidence that the professional in question didn’t satisfy the terms of the Bolam test, in essence, that they acted in an ‘unacceptable’ manner to how a ‘responsible’ body of their peers would have done, you could be eligible for compensation.

The test takes a representative body of medical professionals to assess your doctor, or other medical professionals, methods against. Of course, different doctors do things in different ways, but the Bolam test uses a peer review system to determine if your professional breached their duty of care or not.

If they are found to have failed their duty of care, and the Bolam test, you will be able to claim compensation.

How long do birth injury claims take?

How long a birth injury claim will take to resolve will be determined by the circumstances, severity and complexity of the birth injury you’re seeking compensation for.

To explore the timeline further, the person you’re claiming against has four months in which to respond. Complex injuries could take longer for your solicitor and the NHS to investigate.

When your claim has begun, our birth injury solicitors will be able to give you a clearer timeframe.

Support available for families affected by birth injuries

When you’re going through such an emotional time it can be difficult managing things. 

That’s why there is a lot of support available for families affected by birth injuries: 

• The British Trauma Association - offer a helpline which provides help and support for mothers who have gone through birth trauma with feeding their baby
• The MASIC Foundation - supports women who have suffered serious injuries through childbirth
• MIND - the mental health charity MIND has free support and resources for mothers experiencing postnatal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Billy - is a charity that provides birth injury litigation support

How Lawhive can help

We won’t suggest we understand what you’re going through. However, when it comes to claiming birth injury compensation, our solicitors are experts.

They have helped many mothers and families in your situation and know that raking up old pain can be traumatic. We’re here to listen when you’re ready to talk.

We’ve heard from families that have suffered birth injuries tell us that compensation has helped them achieve a sense of justice and given them the resources they need to manage day-to-day and move forward in the way they choose fits them best.

If you would like to discuss a potential compensation claim you can get in touch with one of our legal experts in as little as 5 minutes. Our case assessments are always free, and confidential, with no obligation to move forward unless you feel ready.

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